Minnesota Vikings take on the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 6, 202
Featured Image credit: Rob Ridley
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has revealed that the league is looking to play up to eight regular season games outside of the United States in 2025, with Dublin and Berlin potential new destinations.
The American football organisation has staged regular season games abroad since 2007, when the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants met at Wembley Stadium in London. The path to potentially enhancing the International Games calendar was set in December, when NFL team owners voted to permit an increase in League-operated inventory from a minimum of four up to a maximum of eight games a season, beginning in 2025.
The first new venue for 2025 was announced in February as Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in the Spanish capital of Madrid. Goodell outlined how the 2025 international games could appear as this season’s fixtures concluded yesterday (Sunday) with the Carolina Panthers defeating the New York Giants 20-17 at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
Goodell told the NFL Network: “We are definitely going to Spain, we announced that. We expect to return to Mexico City. We expect to return to Brazil. We will certainly be back in the UK. And we’re also looking at the potential of another game in the UK area in Ireland. That’s a possibility. And we’ll certainly be back here in Germany. So if that total’s eight, that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Dublin has frequently been linked to staging an International Games fixture. Croke Park hosted a pre-season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears in 1997, while Aviva Stadium has staged college football games in recent years.
The 2024 International Games was made up of three fixtures in London, two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at Wembley Stadium, along with the return to Munich’s Allianz Arena. The series was brought up to five in September as São Paulo’s Neo Química Arena hosted the League’s first-ever game in South America.
A sold-out crowd of 47,236 watched on as the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 34-29 at the home of Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A football club Corinthians. Mexico City has also been a regular destination for the League, with the most recent game being in 2022 amid redevelopment work to prepare the Estadio Azteca to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Berlin would be a new German destination for the NFL, with games having been split between Allianz Arena and Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park since 2022. RTL/ntv originally reported on Saturday that the Berlin Senate is due to hold a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) over a bid to host multiple games at the Olympiastadion across 2025 to 2029.
Speaking during a Q&A session with fans in Munich ahead of yesterday’s game, Goodell said: “I usually tell people, ‘Don’t believe rumours’. In this case, I might say, ‘Believe it.’ We’re working on it, but it isn’t finalised.
“We really feel like Berlin would be a great addition, so we’re looking very hard at that. Our people have been working very hard at it. But I want to add that does not mean we’re not going to be back in Frankfurt and Munich.”
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